20 JUN 07: PUT IT IN -- PARK

Tuesday was what one radio announcer described as "an old-fashioned rainy day." It was perfect for pulling out your umbrella and taking a stroll through a.... wellll.... you have to admit, a stroll through the "greenspace" doesn't sound quite right....

Columbus Council made its strongest statement yet Tuesday, about the land around the central library. Councilors voted 7-3 to reject the Library Board's proposed budget, which included plans for greenspace. Now the Library Board has to go back to the drawing board -- which means they may have to borrow the menu board from the Library Café.

You'll recall when Columbus Council voted on the Library Board budget in late May, the count was 5-4 in favor of it. So three Councilors reversed positions in three weeks - changing their minds much faster than city work crews change burned-out lights on the Riverwalk.

Once again WRBL broke down the vote on the Library Board budget. The only Columbus Councilors to approve it Tuesday were Mike Baker, Skip Henderson and Red McDaniel. Jerry "Pops" Barnes and Mimi Woodson remain opposed -- so the Library Board could only get a 2-2 split of the nickname coalition.

My scorecard shows the three Columbus Councilors who changed their minds on the Library Board budget were Wayne Anthony, Julius Hunter and Evelyn Turner Pugh. That's interesting, because Republican Party and Education Park Coalition chair Josh McKoon normally wouldn't buy dinner for at least two of them....

Josh McKoon wrote us three weeks ago, expressing concern that Midtown Inc. would lobby Columbus Councilors to back the Library Board budget [31 May]. If that organization did, it certainly wasn't evident Tuesday. Maybe Midtown Inc. was busy trying to find whoever put up the Java Jo'z sign on Macon Road - the one still waiting for a coffee shop.

It certainly appears from Tuesday's vote that Josh McKoon has won over Columbus Council on having a park around the central library. But winning over the Library Board may be another matter. Its next meeting is only nine days away. It has a lot more members. And some of those members seem a lot like library books - you know, hardbound.

Library Board Chair Bobsie Swift didn't seem defeated by Tuesday's vote. She believes Columbus Councilors will be persuaded back to her side, once they see visual plans for a children's area and "meadow grass." Perhaps Councilors can see that now -- by checking out old DVD's of "Little House on the Prairie."

Bobsie Swift has contended the Muscogee County Library Board can't afford to maintain a park. But I'm wondering if the board could build the park, then lease it for the Columbus Parks Department to maintain. That way the city would keep watering those walking trails Josh McKoon wants so badly -- trails probably made of concrete or brick.

BLOG UPDATE: On another matter, Columbus Council postponed a discussion of Uptown Columbus improvements for two weeks. That way, business members could discuss them first with the leaders of Uptown Columbus Inc. - and maybe even sing a tryout song for them.

Have you seen the new TV ad by "Concerned Citizens for Uptown Columbus?" It urges you to oppose a petition from Uptown Columbus Inc., which was scheduled for Columbus Council debate Tuesday. So apparently some people downtown don't need help with commercials from the Business Improvement District fund after all...

One disputed issue involving Uptown Columbus is whether to set an outdoor music limit of 75 decibels along Broadway. So much for ever having a "Mariachi Night" at Locos Amigos Cantina.

Another item in the petition would remove metal barriers along the sidewalks on Broadway, which outline where alcohol can be served. Uptown Columbus wants the boundaries to be marked by brick patterns - as if people who drink too many beers will be able to follow something so complicated.

E-MAIL UPDATE: Speaking of (ahem) eating out, here's another person's "top five list" of local restaurants - inspired by our Monday topic:

My favorite restaurant is Minnie's..can't beat the fried chicken Also the Home of the Ranger Burger on the way to Buena Vista.. Hotel Tallassee in Tallassee ,AL..100 yr old hotel has excellent friend chicken and veggies Mon-Sun and fish on Fri... The Yogurt Shoppe for lunch..great dumplings and veggies Evelyn's and Rose Hill Seafood ..

I know all about Minnie's in the Historic District, since I live a short walk from it. And it's a good thing I can walk there, because driving around the restaurant can be a pain during lunch hour. Selfish parkers leave First Avenue with so little driving room, I wish a maitre 'd would show up to direct me through it.

There was talk a year or two ago of adding a traffic light at Eighth Street and Second Avenue, primarily because of Minnie's. Collisions were occurring because drivers crossing Eighth Street couldn't see around parked cars. But after a big lunch at Minnie's, some customers probably need square inch of room inside that waiting SUV.

Now let's chew on some more items from the Tuesday news buffet:

+ Aflac officially opened Phase I of its expanded campus on Woodruff Farm Road. From the pictures I saw on television, those certainly are state-of-the-art cubicles....

(So why couldn't the Aflac Racing stock car stay in town one more day, to be displayed at this grand opening? Was the rain going to wash off the paint job, and show a giant Met Life logo with Snoopy?)

+ Nashville TV station WTVF won a national "Edward R. Murrow Award," for its investigation of Bill Heard Chevrolet [25 Apr]. That's two national news awards at Bill Heard's expense - so maybe the Columbus dealership needs to hire the next Miss Georgia, to work with the current one.

+ The director of Albany's Flint RiverQuarium warned it will close in six weeks, unless the city provides a $600,000 bailout. It could be another death at the hands of the Georgia Aquarium -- and just about as big as the whale sharks.

+ Instant Message to Larry Munson: No - you can't. You can't think about retiring after 40 years of Georgia football broadcasts. I know your body's weary and all - but I'm pleading with you, guy. Hunker on down, ONE MORE TIME!!!!!!

SCHEDULED THURSDAY: The next round in the Pioneer Little League debate....

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